–at PROPEL-led discussion on challenges facing women, youth in agriculture

By Wendella Davidson

IT’S no secret that women and young farmers play an integral role in agriculture and food production the world over. And it was with this in mind that a timely multi-stakeholder forum, which sought to bring to the fore and seek solutions to the myriad challenges facing women and young farmers in Guyana, was convened on Tuesday at Herdmanston Lodge, Georgetown.

Organised by the local chapter of PROPEL (Promotion of Regional Opportunities for Produce Through Enterprises and Linkages), the forum, themed “Shaping programmes  based on the realities of Women and Youth”, brought together representatives from various stakeholder groups in agriculture, including public and private sector representatives, Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the media.Together they brainstormed ideas with the objective of identifying mechanisms that can be developed to help remove barriers, and ensure that the priorities of women and youth are given the required attention.
Among topics that were discussed by the participants were: Who or what agencies should be involved in the process and what roles they should play; What coordinated action may be required; and How these can be successfully undertaken.

Guest speaker, Ms Jan Sheltinga, who is Counsellor for Development Cooperation in Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, High Commission of Canada, underscored the role of women and youth in agriculture, noting that full economic growth cannot be achieved without their participation.

Ms Sheltinga said that the role of extension services is absolutely critical to this equation, and there is an urgent need to improve the productivity and support of the women and youth-led opportunities. She also reiterated the need for women farmers to be empowered in an effort to broaden their lives.

HOLISTIC APPROACH

PROPEL’s Deputy Director, Munish Persaud, noted in his opening remarks that the aim of the forum was to look at agriculture from a holistic point of view. It also must find out what are the obstacles preventing the country’s agricultural sector from doing much better than at present.
In acknowledging and applauding the representative stakeholders, Persaud said he was particularly enthused by the participation of the media, whom he views as a critical element in  the conversation, as they can play an important role in the area of educating and sensitising the general public on the services that are available in the agriculture sector.

An important feature during the first session were presentations by Dexter Southwell, Ayodele Sampson, Anna Bridgelall and Roseman Miller, all of whom spoke on the numerous challenges they are faced with as producers of agricultural products, and made a few suggestions as to how they might be solved.

According to Southwell, young farmers primarily face challenges in the area of access to certain enabling resources, such as drainage and irrigation (D&I) and extension services; training in areas of business and business management; training programmes that cater for the needs of young women; and market structures that are unfavourable to young farmers.He also told the gathering that the reason many youths tend to shun agriculture is because they are typically subjected to labour-intensive farm activities. There’s also the stigma associated with slavery and agriculture in some communities, Southwell noted, not to mention a limited knowledge of how markets work; the lack of basic information on market prices; and the inability of youths to access loans because they do not possess collateral.

LOW SELF-ESTEEM
Another deterrent, he said, has to do with the youth farmers being portrayed as people of low self-esteem and lacking in aspiration. As such, he said, youths listening to such stories can become demotivated.
Sampson, in her presentation, spoke about the barriers facing women farmers as they seek access to local markets for their produce, and legal advice to do with land tenure; training in the area of negotiation; and the need for an informal agriculture women’s network. She also lamented the fact that most women are often being taken advantage of, due to their limited knowledge of agriculture and the cost associated with various activities, and technical advice on the scheduling of extension support in agriculture farming.
Bridgelall, who addressed soil management, spoke of women not being able to have access to agricultural machinery, such as tillers and tractors; the prohibitive cost of getting an excavator to dig drains and canals and for tractors to plough a field, all works associated with farming.
She zeroed in, too, on the inadequacy of technical support, and the need for women farmers to be encouraged.

Miller, in her presentation, addressed the lack of access to farmlands and farm-to-market roads; the shortage of labour force and the high charges being demanded to do the work because the farmers are women; the need for women to be introduced to an alternative method of farming, such as shade house farming since field farming is too rigorous for women; and access to agricultural loans and technical know-how in the area of post-harvest handling and the management of products. 
On the issue of communication of market information, Miller, who hails from Stanleytown,  West Bank Demerara, said many times women farmers are deliberately given inaccurate market information, which is not right. A sore point for her, and other women farmers also, is that they are often subject to praedial larceny, resulting in heavy losses, causing them to be hesitant to invest and expand in their respective enterprise.

DONOR SUPPORTThe PROPEL project is implemented by the World University Service (WUSC), with the financial support of donors and from the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

PROPEL is scheduled to wrap-up in December 2018. To this end, participants, following their respective presentations, examined areas and sought to develop mechanisms that could be implemented to ensure that women and youth priorities in agriculture continue, and get the required attention.